NEST Symposium

Parallel sessions

Citizen Science Engagement
In this workshop, participants will explore citizen engagement and learn how citizen science can support meaningful involvement of citizens in societal challenges, policy, and research. Through a short introduction and a hands-on group exercise, you gain insight into key elements of stakeholder engagement and work on a (hypothetical or real-life) case to see how citizen science can strengthen ownership, collaboration and mutual learning between citizens, professionals, and other stakeholders.
The session is facilitated by Rosy Mondardini and Priya Mohanty from Citizen Science Zurich, together with Annet Veen project leader of the Vitaliteitscampus at Alfa College, who works on co-creation projects with students and communities on regional health challenges.

The Interprofessional Learning Ward in Eemsdelta – from practice to scaling up
In the workshop you will explore the interprofessional learning ward in Eemsdelta as a real-life case and learn how it was developed step by step as a deliberate learning process, using tools such as timeline evaluations and a dynamic learning agenda. You will gain insight into the results of the 2025 evaluation discussed with education and healthcare leaders and work with a scaling-up model from the ZonMw Learning to Transform programme to reflect on your own practice: where are you now, and what is needed to take the next step? The workshop offers practical guidance for professionals, educators, and leaders working on interprofessional learning and collaboration in health and social care.
It is facilitated by Katrien Colman (project lead of the interprofessional minor Expeditie Het Gezonde Noorden and lecturer at the interprofessional learning ward), Alien van der Sluis (De Hoven) and Annet Veen.

Transition-oriented monitoring in action
During this workshop you will receive a brief and clear introduction to transition-oriented monitoring: a way of tracking and learning that fits complex societal change. Rather than only measuring whether targets have been met, this approach focuses on learning processes, collaboration, and visible system change. Using practical examples, we will show how developments in networks, experiments, and policy processes can be followed and interpreted. You will discover how monitoring becomes an active learning tool that supports adjustment and deepening along the way, not only accountability afterwards.
Paul Beenen (lecturer-research transition-oriented learning communities at Hanze UAS) and Marije Bosch (coordinator education at Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health) facilitate this workshop.

Warm data lab

In the context of the health transition, we are dealing with complex societal challenges that cannot be solved from a single perspective. Warm data labs invite us to explore this complexity together, by connecting experiences from different domains of life such as health, community, and everyday practice. During the labs, participants move between small groups, following their curiosity and reflecting on a shared question from multiple perspectives. By listening, sharing, and shifting viewpoints, new insights can emerge. In this way, the warm data lab offers a space to better understand and navigate complexity in the transition towards healthier communities together. At several moments during the NEST Symposium, we will engage in a warm data lab.